Carbon Monoxide from Brazil Fires from NASA Satellite

This time series shows carbon monoxide related to fires in the Brazilian Amazon from 8 to 22 August 2019. The data are from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) of NASA's Aqua satellite. Images show carbon monoxide at an altitude of about 5,500 meters. Each "tag" in the series is created by averaging measurements for three days. Photo credits: NASA / JPL-Caltech

New data from the NASA's Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) aboard the Aqua satellite show the movement in the atmosphere of carbon monoxide in connection with fires in the Brazilian Amazon.

In this timeline, carbon monoxide will be collected from 8 to 22 August 201

9 at an altitude of 5,500 m (18,000 feet). As the series progresses, the carbon monoxide cloud in the northwestern Amazon region grows and then drifts in a more concentrated cloud toward the southeastern portion of the country.

Each "tag" in the series is determined by averaging measurements for three days, a technique used to remove data gaps. Green means concentrations of carbon monoxide of about 100 volumes per billion (ppbv); yellow, at about 120 ppbv; and dark red at about 160 ppbv. Local values ​​can be significantly higher.

As a pollutant that can travel long distances, carbon monoxide can remain in the atmosphere for about one month. At the altitude shown in these pictures, the gas has little effect on the air we breathe. However, strong winds can carry it down where it can significantly affect air quality. Carbon monoxide plays a role in both air pollution and climate change.

In conjunction with the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU), AIRS detects the infrared and microwave radiation emitted by the Earth to obtain a three-dimensional picture of the weather and climate on Earth. With more than 2,000 channels capturing different regions of the atmosphere, the instruments create a global, three-dimensional map of air temperature and humidity, cloud levels and altitudes, greenhouse gas concentrations, and many other atmospheric phenomena.

The AIRS and AMSU instruments are managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, on behalf of NASA. JPL is a division of Caltech.